1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrically driven remote-controlled mirror apparatus used for an automobile, more particularly to a mirror apparatus which is designed such that a driver of the automobile can remotely control the rotation of a mirror mounted on the automobile at the driver's seat in order to obtain a rear vision and side visions suitably.
2. Related Art Statement
In a conventional electric remote control mirror apparatus in which a rear or side vision suitable for a driver of an automobile is obtained by moving a mirror surface, there are provided a mechanism for pivotably supporting a mirror body fixing a mirror or a backing member trough a pivot connection and a mechanism for rotating the mirror body around the pivot connection in the vertical and horizontal directions.
It is required for such conventional electric remote control mirror apparatus, to provide the mechanism including the pivot connection for pivotably and stably supporting the mirror and the mechanism for smoothly slanting the mirror around the pivot connection, and particularly to provide a pair screw rods for rotating the mirror around the vertical axis as well as the horizontal axis by using an electric motor through a reduction gear. Therefore, there is a problem that the screw rods are not moved smoothly because each screw rod is not supported stably when it is moved forwardly or backwardly in the state that the rotation of the screw rod is inhibited. In actual, a ball portion fixed on the end point of the screw rod, which ball portion being fitted into a ball base mounted on a mirror base, moves circularly around the pivot connection, therefore the screw rod is given with a degree of freedom of movement to follow to the movement of the ball portion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,392 discloses a remote control mirror apparatus in which there is provided an axial bore on a block having a ball portion of the end point portion thereof and a pin having a screw portion rotatably supported on a casing, and the screw poriton is disposed within the axial bore and the block has a needle contacting to the screw portion of the pin. By rotating the pin the block is effected with an axial movement, however the axial movement is undesirably not smooth thereby moving in the direction perpendicualr to the axial direction, because the pin contacts in a point contact to the block through the needle. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,454 discloses a remote control mirror apparatus in which there is provided three catches at the end portion of a hollow-cylindrical adjusting nut having a ball portion at the end point thereof and each of the catches is in pressing contact with the bottom portion of a male screw portion of the adjusting member. The adjusting nut is adapted to effect an axial movement by rotating the male screw portion of the adjusting member. However, the adjusting member per se is adapted to effect a conically swing on a root, therefore a pressing contact force required for contacting the three catches of the adjusting nut with the male screw portion of the adjusting member is undesirably moving the adjusting nut in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction.